[STLCardsBlues1989]

Originally Posted by Timeless_36

We haven't quite decided between Georgia (have family there), Northern Florida (went there on vacation), and a few other states we're looking into
Who knows, we may just say forget the move, stick it out, and build another house here again lol! We'll have to see I suppose.

I have never been to missouri before....I hear you get alot of twisters there though !

"A lot" is an exaggeration I think. We get them occasionally. I don't worry about them, though. You're going to have dangerous weather anywhere. In the past 18 years I've lived in Missouri we've had 2 tornadoes, but neither did much damage, and nobody was killed. Here we have the chance of a tornado or earthquake, California has earthquakes, Florida has hurricanes, northern cities can have snowstorms which can be dangerous, some areas are prone to flooding. So, wherever you live you take necessary precautions, but you also just live your life.

Here's a map of tornadoes from 1950 to 1998. Missouri's in the "tornado alley" area, but so is a lot of Michigan and Georgia and Northern Florida.

http://www.realtownblogs.com/uploads...nado_Alley.gif

And in Georgia and Florida you do have to take into account the possibility of hurricanes.

So, I wouldn't shy away from Missouri due to tornadoes. If you're afraid of natural disasters around every corner you can't live anywhere.

Good luck whatever your decision is!

Here's a similar tornado map http://www.tornadochaser.net/images/frequency.gif

Here's a list of Tornadoes in the U.S. since 1671. Some are in the Minnesota and Michigan, and there are some in Missouri as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...nado_outbreaks


Lake of the Ozarks



Sunset on the Lake



St. Louis

View from the arch




The Ozarks

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Springfield, Missouri

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Kansas City



Blue Spring

I think views like that are worth a risk of a tornado every 9 years.

[steadbonnet]

I like MO, but it is still to cold in winter for my taste. I am trying out mid arkansas. not to bad when Wichita is at 20 we are 56. We get bamboo and magnolias and some palms. I lived in FL for seven years and it was ok. I could go back and live in a nice town like sarasota. but from what I have been told FL is very high in taxes and home prices are out of sight. SC same thing unless you live 25 miles from any place that has work. I left MI and took my losses. The state has never been up for long. you get 8 years up and 10 down. To much of a rollacoster ride for me.

[STLCardsBlues1989]

The weathers here can be cold, although nothing like Michigan obviously. We've had 2 sprinklings of snow this year and it's 27 degrees right now.

[malamute]

Yes -- Missouri has much of the same beauty as Michigan. Even much of the same rural area "feel". It doesn't have the Great Lakes obviously -- but it is definitely a very scenic state. It's my favorite state when I'm driving across country. It's great for camping, hiking -- staying a couple nights in the Ozarks could have you never want to leave.

[Bydand]

I love Missouri. It is very beautiful country and most of the people I have met have been very friendly. I also like Mid-Tennessee, right along the TN/KY border. Nice people and real nice country as well.

[Timeless_36]

Originally Posted by STLCardsBlues1989

You're going to have dangerous weather anywhere.

That is very very true Very beautiful photos.

[prestonMI]

Just wondering how bad the problem is.
What is your story and why you want to make the move and where?

Well the problem on an individual basis is not too threating to a rewarding life in the Great Lakes State. The problems stems from the auto industry, more or less, leaving the state to become more efficient overseas, followed by other industries. This trickle down effect as a whole is felt as Michigan struggles to find a new economic identity. Many government sponsored programs are being cut and many services are no longer being offered. The current tax system is framed around traditional ways, ways that revolved around the booming auto industry. In short, Michigan is now catching up to the modern way of taxation and economic survival. Thus it's widening its scope by taxing new services such as Tanning, skiing and other previously un-taxed industries.

As for me, I plan on relocating to Florida once I finish my college course work. The spark behind my decision is not the economy (my line of work would be a perfect match in Michigan). For me the winters bear too heavy of a burden for me to handle. A price I can not afford to pay mentally.

Ode to sunshine!

[wanderer74]

Originally Posted by redwingsfan19

Just wondering how bad the problem is.
What is your story and why you want to make the move and where?

I posted here a few times last summer and fall, then my husband finally got a job with health insurance and it seemed like things might be okay. I graduated from college in August and am still looking for work. I figured that just so I could have some money to get by I'd try to get part-time retail work for the holidays and applied to every place that had a sign that they were hiring and no one called me for an interview - I even followed up with most places. I'm supposed to start repayment on my student loans in March and as of right now there's no way I could do it and am probably going to have to get a deferment.

We lived in Dallas/Fort Worth for 8 years and moved back here in early 2002 - it has been a bad decision since day one, but we were just so homesick for Michigan. Now we're realizing that in spite of some cultural aspects we didn't like as well about D/FW, it really was much easier to get by there and we should have heeded the old adage "you can't go home again." So now I'm looking into my options, most likely back in D/FW again. I don't want to be rich, I would just really like it if my academic achievement was actually worth enough to repay the loans I took out to get it!

[stuntmanmike]

Originally Posted by wanderer74

I would just really like it if my academic achievement was actually worth enough to repay the loans I took out to get it!

There are many people in michigan that wish their homes were worth what they were a year ago... LOL

[wanderer74]

Originally Posted by stuntmanmike

There are many people in michigan that wish their homes were worth what they were a year ago... LOL

Yeah, I'm one of those too... we bought a home here in 2005 and based on comparable homes in the neighborhood it's worth less than we bought it for. My husband thinks that everyone around the country is in this same position as far as real estate, but I'm not so sure. There gets to be this tendency I've noticed that a lot of people in Michigan assume the rest of the country is just as bad off as we are in Michigan, which in my research is sometimes true and sometimes not!